Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2026

The bill would create automatic continuing appropriations: if Congress does not enact full-year funding bills before a fiscal year begins and no continuing resolution is in effect, programs would automatically receive funding at the prior year's rate for repeating 14-day periods until new appropriations are enacted. Mandatory programs like SNAP would continue at levels required by current law. It also amends campaign finance law to bar using campaign funds for official travel during such lapses, and sets Senate and House floor procedures during a lapse: no recesses longer than 23 hours, no legislative business except appropriations-related matters (with narrow exceptions for top nominations after 30 days), and mandatory daily quorum calls. The bill would also direct that its budgetary effects be scored as discretionary appropriations and treated as part-year funding for spending-limit enforcement purposes. It would not eliminate the need for Congress to eventually pass full-year appropriations, and high-disbursement programs like grants to states would not receive lump-sum distributions during a lapse.

Federal agencies and the programs, grants, and contracts they administer; federal employees and contractors dependent on appropriated funding; recipients of mandatory benefits like SNAP; and Members of Congress, congressional staff, and Office of Management and Budget officials, whose travel and legislative business would be restricted during any funding lapse.

If enacted, federal agencies and beneficiaries would no longer face abrupt funding cutoffs, furloughs, or service interruptions when Congress misses appropriations deadlines, since funding would continue automatically at existing levels. At the same time, lawmakers would face real pressure—restricted travel, no extended recesses, and a narrowed legislative agenda—to resolve funding disputes quickly.

Upon any lapse in appropriations, funding would automatically continue at prior-year rates in 14-day renewable increments under new 31 U.S.C. § 1311, ending once new appropriations or a continuing resolution is enacted for the affected account. OMB and agencies would apply prior-year terms and conditions but withhold lump-sum or high-initial-rate disbursements to states and grantees. Simultaneously, Senate and House rules would restrict floor business to appropriations matters, cap recesses at 23 hours, and require daily quorum checks, with any waiver requiring a two-thirds vote; travel restrictions on covered officials would apply throughout the lapse, including a campaign-finance ban on travel spending. Budget scorekeepers would treat the automatic funding as discretionary, part-year appropriations for deficit-control enforcement.